Iraq's prime minister on Wednesday disputed Blackwater USA's
version of a weekend shooting that left at least 11 people dead
and declared he would not tolerate "the killing of our citizens
in cold blood."

Land travel by U.S. diplomats and other civilian officials
outside the fortified Green Zone remained suspended for a second
day after Iraqi authorities ordered Blackwater to stop working
as an investigation continues into the Sunday incident.

The Moyock, N.C.-based firm is the main provider of bodyguards
and armed escorts for American government civilian employees in
Iraq.

Americans and Iraqis have offered widely differing accounts of
the Sunday incident, with Blackwater insisting that its guards
returned fire against armed insurgents who were threatening
American diplomats.

But The New York Times reported late Tuesday that a preliminary
review by Iraq's Ministry of Interior found that Blackwater
security guards fired at a car when it did not heed a
policeman's call to stop, killing a couple and their infant.

According to the story on the Times' Web site, the report said
that Blackwater helicopters also had fired — a finding the
company denies. The Iraqi Ministry of Defense said that 20
Iraqis were killed, considerably higher than the 11 dead
reported before.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said the Sunday shooting was "the
seventh of its kind" involving Blackwater "and these violations
should be dealt with."

"We will not tolerate the killing of our citizens in cold
blood," al-Maliki said. "The work of this company has been
stopped in order to know the reasons."

Al-Maliki said Blackwater's version of the events "is not
accurate" and that U.S. diplomats could use the services of
other security companies.

"Our information is that there was a violation,'" he said. "We
moved to form a committee to reveal to the world whether those
killed were armed or innocent."

Blackwater spokeswoman Anne E. Tyrrell said in a statement late
Monday that "Blackwater's independent contractors acted lawfully
and appropriately in response to a hostile attack in Baghdad on
Sunday."

"The `civilians' reportedly fired upon by Blackwater
professionals were in fact armed enemies and Blackwater
personnel returned defensive fire," she said. "Blackwater
regrets any loss of life but this convoy was violently attacked
by armed insurgents, not civilians, and our people did their job
to defend human life."

The Interior Ministry said Monday that it had permanently
revoked Blackwater's license and would order its 1,000 personnel
to leave the country. The following day the government rolled
back, suggesting the firm's operations were only suspended
pending completion of a joint U.S.-Iraqi investigation.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, en route to the Middle
East, said Tuesday night that it was too soon to tell what
effect the ban will have on U.S. operations in Iraq. Rice said
she has expressed regret at the loss of life to the Iraqi prime
minister.

"I committed to him that we were as interested as the Iraqi
government in having a full investigation into what happened ...
and to working with the Iraqi government to try and make certain
that this sort of thing doesn't happen," Rice said.

Iraqis have long resented the presence of the estimated 48,000
private security contractors — including about 1,000 Blackwater
employees — considering them a mercenary force that runs
roughshod over civilians in their own country.

Blackwater, whose convoys of SUVs careen through the streets
with weapons displayed, has been singled out for much of the
criticism.

"Blackwater has a reputation. If you want over-over-the-top,
gun-toting security with high profile and all the bells and
whistles, Blackwater are the people you are going to go with,"
said James Sammons, a former Australian Special Air Service
commander who now works for British-based AKE Group that also
provides security in Iraq.

He said any civilian killings by security contractors tarnish
the reputations of all of them.

"We get lumped in with that and it makes the job harder for the
rest of us," said Sammons, who is AKE's Asia-Pacific regional
director, based in Sydney, Australia.

The Iraqi Cabinet decided Tuesday to review the status of all
foreign security companies. Still, it was unclear how the
dispute would play out, given the government's need to appear
resolute in defending national sovereignty while maintaining its
relationship with Washington at a time when U.S. public support
for the mission is faltering.

Nevertheless, some Iraqi officials said privately it would be
difficult to order Blackwater out of the country because the
Americans rely so heavily on the company for their security.

"It will be difficult for the Iraqi government to make them
leave the country because they protect the embassy," said one
aide to al-Maliki. "Maybe they will make a commitment that they
study their moves" or agree to change the name of the company.

The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because the issue is so
sensitive.

Al-Sadr's office in Najaf said the government should nullify
contracts of all foreign security companies, branding them
"criminal and intelligence firms."

"This aggression would not have happened had it not been for the
presence of the occupiers who brought these companies, most of
whose members are criminals and ex-convicts in American and
Western prisons," the firebrand cleric said in a statement.

Al-Sadr insisted the government prosecute those involved and
ensure that families of the victims receive compensation but did
not threaten to unleash his Mahdi Army militia in retaliation
for the killings.

Blackwater is among three private security firms employed by the
State Department to protect employees in Iraq, and expelling it
would create huge problems for U.S. government operations in
this country.

A 2004 regulation issued by the U.S. occupation authority
granted security contractors full immunity from prosecution
under Iraqi law. Unlike American military personnel, the
civilian contractors are also not subject to U.S. military law
either.

Hassan al-Rubaie, a member of the parliament's Security and
Defense Committee, said an investigative committee has been
formed to consider lifting the contractors' immunity.

Blackwater and other foreign contractors accused of killing
Iraqi citizens have gone without facing charges or prosecution
in the past. But the latest incident drew a much stronger
reaction by the Iraqi government.

Also Wednesday, the U.S. military said an American soldier was
killed the day before in an attack in the south of the capital.
The death raised to at least 3,787 members of the U.S. military
who have died since the war started in March 2003, according to
an AP count.

___

Project Strait Gate is an action program started by We Hold
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